Franchise business in the Philippines? Check reviews first

Before you sign for a franchise business in the Philippines, open Google Maps and read the reviews of the brand's existing branches. A franchisor's presentation shows the best branch on its best day. Reviews show what customers get on a rainy Tuesday at a branch nobody is watching, and that is the system you are buying.

This works for a food cart franchise, a milk tea franchise, a coffee kiosk or a laundry shop. Fees and contracts are for the franchisor and your lawyer. The reviews you can check tonight, for free.

Once you open, your branch will collect its own reviews. How the brand handles reviews today tells you how much of that work will land on you.

Search the brand name on Google Maps. Most brands will show many pins. Pick 5 to 10 branches in different places: a mall, a school area, a terminal, a province far from head office. Branches near the franchisor's office are often the best run, so don't stop there.

For each branch, write down the star rating and the number of reviews. A 4.6 from 400 reviews tells you more than a 5.0 from 6. Then sort by newest and read the last 3 months. A branch that was good two years ago may have changed owners or staff since.

Next, filter to the 1 to 3 star reviews and read them all. You are looking for the same complaint showing up at different branches: cold food, long waits, items out of stock, rude staff, dirty tables, wrong orders, a machine that is always broken. One angry review at one branch is noise. The same complaint in four cities usually points to the recipe, the supplier, the equipment or the training, and those come from the franchisor.

Look at the replies too. Does anyone answer, and do the replies address what the customer said? A brand that ignores its 1-star reviews will probably not help you with yours.

Finally, watch for signs that some reviews may not be real. A burst of 5-star reviews with no text, all within a few days, from accounts with only 1 review, is a warning sign, not proof. Google's policy on fake engagement bans reviews paid for directly or in kind, content posted from several accounts at one person's request, and reviews with a conflict of interest, such as from current or former staff. If a brand's ratings lean on that kind of review, the real picture is in the rest. Our guide on fake Google reviews shows more patterns.

Every kind of franchise has its own typical complaints. Read the reviews with these in mind, and note whether they come up often.

• Food cart franchise (fries, siomai, shawarma, hotdogs): food served cold or reheated, sauces running out, oily or soggy food, carts closed during posted hours.
• Milk tea franchise: pearls too hard or too soft, drinks too sweet even at low sugar, long waits at peak hours, a menu item that is never available. Our guide to starting a milk tea shop covers what makes a cup consistent.
• Coffee franchise: taste that changes from branch to branch, burnt espresso, slow service during the morning rush, Wi-Fi or seats that don't match the photos.
• Food franchise with dine-in: dirty tables and restrooms, portions smaller than the menu photo, orders that come out wrong.
• Laundry franchise: clothes returned late, missing items, damage, and no one answering the phone.

Fill one line per branch in a notebook or spreadsheet. After 5 to 10 branches, patterns stand out.

• Branch and city: which one, and is it a mall, street, school or terminal location?
• Rating and number of reviews.
• Reviews in the last 3 months: how many, and is the rating going up or down?
• Top 3 complaints in the 1 to 3 star reviews, in the customers' own words.
• Replies: does someone answer, how fast, and do the replies sound like a person?
• Profile basics: are the hours right, are the photos of this branch, does the phone number work?
• Possible fake reviews: bursts of 5-star with no text, or reviewers with only 1 review.
• Your verdict: would you be proud to own this branch as it is today?

Your branch's Google Business Profile is where many customers will first meet it, so ask about it before you sign, the same way you ask about supplies and training.

Some Google rules shape the answers. Each branch that serves customers in person gets its own profile, and Google's guidelines say all locations of a business in the same country must use the same name. So your branch will carry the brand's name, not your own, and you can't add your city or a slogan to it. Google lets a brand keep its profiles together in a business group, which works like a shared folder with owners and managers. Our guide to managing multiple locations explains how brands set this up.

If someone else already owns a profile and you need it, Google's process is to request ownership from the current owner, who gets 3 days to respond. That is much easier to sort out in the contract than after a dispute. Ask these questions:

• Who creates the profile for my branch, and who owns it: the franchisor or me?
• Will I get access to my branch's profile, as an owner or a manager, so I can update hours and photos and see reviews?
• Who replies to reviews of my branch? Is there a reply guideline or a set tone?
• Who handles complaints that need a refund or a replacement, and how fast?
• What happens to the profile and its reviews if I close or sell the branch?
• Who verifies the branch with Google, and who keeps the hours and holiday hours current?

Reviews tell you what customers see. Franchisees tell you what it costs to make that happen. The Philippine Franchise Association's advisory asks would-be franchisees to check who is behind the brand and whether it has a track record in franchising. It also asks whether the franchisor owns its trademark, whether the agreement and operations manual are detailed, and what training and support you will get. It warns against pressure tactics and offers that are too good to be true.

Go further on your own. Talk to current franchisees, including some at branches you pick yourself. Ask what their reviews complain about and whether head office helped fix it.

Then visit 2 or 3 branches as an ordinary customer, at a busy hour. Order the best-seller. Time how long it takes, check whether everything on the menu is available, and look at the counter and the tables. Compare what you see with what the reviews said. If they match, you can trust the reviews for the branches you can't visit.

Your new branch starts with zero reviews, whatever the brand's reputation, so treat its Google profile as part of the shop from day one.

If the profile is yours to manage, claim it and get it verified before opening day, with your opening date set in the profile: Google shows a verified profile up to 90 days before the opening date, so customers can find you without thinking you are already open; our guide on video verification covers the steps. Then ask every customer for a review, not only the happy ones. Google's policy bans offering discounts, freebies or anything else in exchange for reviews, and bans selectively asking only customers you expect to be positive. A simple line at the counter works: "Salamat po. Pa-review naman po kami sa Google, kahit ano pong feedback." Our guide on asking customers for reviews has more lines, and a free review link and review card put it on your counter.

Reply to every review within a day or two, and to bad ones first. Name the problem, say what you did, and invite the customer back: "Sorry po that the fries were cold on Saturday. We've changed how we hold them during the rush. Balik po kayo, we'll make it right." For harder cases, read how to reply to a negative review or try the free review reply writer. Mapkita replies to reviews for every location of a business, which helps when the brand leaves replies to each branch.

Keep the basics right. Set your branch's own hours, which may follow the mall, and update them for every holiday; see holiday hours on Google. Add photos of your branch: your counter, your staff, your products as you serve them. Head office stock photos don't help anyone find your stall in a busy mall. Then work on bringing people back; customer retention is where a branch earns its keep.